Legend of the Pokemon Knights
by ZDragonLord
Summary: A young boy by the name Zweii has lived under a guardian's care his entire life. One day he sets out on a journey that will change his life. With only a mysterious sword and relic left to him, he travels across the world in search of answers. He meets many friends along the way, and makes more than a fair share of rivals. Little does he know, eyes are watching from the shadows...
1. Prologue

The snowy season was unusually harsh this year. The winds blew with a mission to unhinge the doors on our houses. Visibility was only a couple of feet. I sat inside one of the larger houses with my father, Duke, assisting him with his latest project.

"Zweii, pass me the clamps," he asked.

"Here you go," I said, handing him the iron tongs.

He clamped them onto the end of the red-hot beam of steel, and plunged it into the water trough beside him. Steam filled the room as the beam of steel was super-cooled. He lifted it back up and set it on the stack of other beams.

"There, that oughta' do it. Twenty short steel beams for the center down the mountain."

"What are these ones for?" I asked.

"They are to reinforce the roof of the Pokemon center at the bottom of the mountain," he explained. "The snow is starting to pile up."

"Want some help putting them on the cart?" I asked.

"No, when the storm dies out Mamoswine can help, but thanks," he replied with a smile.

"Okay."

"Your practice done for today?

"Yes sir!"

"Good, then off to bed, you have an exciting day ahead tomorrow."

I went to my room in the cabin, changed clothes, and sat on the bed. I laid back, looking up toward the ceiling.

"I can't wait until tomorrow. In a few hours, I will be ten, and I can finally start my journey to find my parents.


	2. A look at the past

I laid in bed going over the story I have been told for my entire life. When I was very small, my parents left me here with Duke. They left nothing behind, no picture, no names, nothing. Through my life, Duke raised me as a steelworker's apprentice, and taught me a thing or two about how to use a longsword. Every day, since the day I could lift a wooden sword, I practiced swinging and blocking techniques. I never understood why, especially in this day in age, but he was my father, and he knew best.

I was homeschooled by the town's elder on various subjects, including Pokemon and basic wilderness survival. The town is fairly small by the name Kalhura. The town is one of the farthest points North in the Sinnoh region, and is so small that it is not on normal maps. The only way to get here is through a single mountain trail that comes from another small dot-on-the-map town below us, however during the snowy season like this, it is almost impossible to traverse. The upside to our little town is the help that we have. Due to the climate, we have a large number of ice-type Pokemon around, the only exception being Duke's Camerupt that gives life to the forge. I would often wander around the town to talk to other people, and meet all the variety of Pokemon in nothing more than a shirt, shorts, and shoes. For some reason, I wasn't bothered too terribly much by the cold, in-fact, I was always very warm. I thought it was just because I grew up in a forge, but Duke would go out wearing a thick jacket and pants. Another mystery I hope to solve someday.

I soon found myself falling asleep in the bed I was laying on, drifting into that place where only your deepest wishes come true.

**NOTE: Some of the first few chapters will be somewhat short, just until Zweii leaves on his journey, when things will get interesting...**


	3. The Dark Dream

I opened my eyes to a void of darkness. I looked down to see that I was in some kind of armor. I looked around me, trying to see where I was. Suddenly a fireball shot past me. I spun around to see an army of ghostly figures charging forward. The army was a mixture of Pokemon and humans alike. A battle horn sounded off, and an opposing army appeared. I looked at both sides, noticing I was caught in the middle.

_"Which side am I on?"_ I thought.

The Pokemon on each side started to fire barrages of attacks on each other. With each successful hit on an opposing foe, they exploded into black mist. The battle started to push one side back. On the winning side I saw a banner with a distinct emblem on it, a pokeball with a sword through it and cracks on where the blade entered and exited, and attached to the ball was a small chain.

_"What a scary emblem. Makes it look like their Pokemon are slaves."_

A large silhouette appeared before the banner, a large sword in hand, and started laughing.

"Haha! Crush those peasants! Leave no one standing! Nothing shall stop our might this day!" he bellowed.

The massive army now encircled the "peasants". I watched, able to do nothing. The army closed the gap between them and the tiny remaining group. From nowhere a roar pieced the darkness. I looked up to see four figures flying into the scene at extraordinary speed.

"Forget the peasants! Our main targets have arrived!" the large figure boomed.

The soldiers ordered their Pokemon to open fire into the sky. The new figures dodged and weaved through the barrage, avoiding everything that came their way. Finally, they made it to the center of the scene. I now realized what they were. As they entered the lighter area of the dark void, they shed their ghostly appearance, and turned into a silhouette, much like the man in front of the banner. By the looks of it they were in armor similar to the set I was wearing, swords raised high in the air. Each was mounted on a large flying Pokemon, appearing to go straight toward the man at the banner. The last rider's mount let loose a flamethrower across the field, igniting a large portion of it, before the area exploded into a large could of black mist. Another let out a purple beam that tore across more troops. Before my eyes most of the opposing army was gone, the peasant army cheered, and slowly vanished.

Now all that was left was the four riders and the man by the banner.

"Do you really think you can win? With my new found power, you will never win!" he yelled.

The group of four flew towards the man. The rear riders took point, and the front fell back. It is a good thing they did, as a burst of light came from behind the man, and took out the first of the riders. Another burst, and the second was gone. Red eyes appeared in the background behind the man.

"That was easy! Now take the rest of them out!"

A third beam of light came towards the rider in front. The silhouette drew a strange blue sword, and held it up. The rider and mount then flew into the beam, and dove just under it. It held the sword straight up, and cut the attack in half. The sword changed color to glow a more purple hue. Every attack that was thrown their way was either dodged or deflected. I watched as the pair started to slow their moves, barely dodging some attacks.

"You need to run, don't look back, just get out of here," a man's voice said.

"No, I won't leave you here!" a female called, deflecting another attack.

"Go! Seek my cousin in the mountains. You are more important than me! Bring the items to my cousin!"

"I can't live without you!"

"You won't live at all if you don't go! The items you carry will end this tyrant's rule in time, now go!"

The woman hesitated, and turned around.

"I love you!" the woman cried.

"We will meet again my love! You will see!"

The woman sheathed her sword and flew off, never once looking back.

"Are you ready for this old friend?" the lone rider asked his partner.

A roar answered in return.

"Alright then."

The duo flew straight at the man by the banner.

"Fools! Your judgment will be swift! Judgment call!" the banner man called.

A loud screech came from behind him, as a massive cloud of clouded light orbs appeared behind him.

"For the Knights! Draco meteor!" the rider called.

A rift opened in the sky behind him, and blue meteors rained from the sky. Simultaneously, all of the orbs fired towards him as a mass. The attacks collided with a flash of light. I heard the banner man's laugh trail off as I saw the rider fall from his mount and plummet towards the ground. One of his Pokemon's wings was gone, and it spiraled down with him. The last thing I saw in the flash of light was a strange looking Pokemon silhouette with what looked like a spiked ring around its waist, and glaring red eyes.


	4. The journey begins

I snapped out of my sleep, the sun's rays shining through my window.

"Zweii, come quick!" Duke called from another room.

I drowsily hopped out of bed, and wandered to the main room where he was. I arrived, only to see him with a big smile on his face.

"Look, the storm is gone! It's as if it disappeared overnight!" he called, obviously overexcited.

"Okay, so you can take those beams to town?" I asked sleepily.

"Today is your tenth birthday! Mother Nature is wishing you well on your journey."

After that strange dream, I had almost forgot today was my tenth birthday. I can finally go on the journey I have been planning in search off my real parents.

"Oh, I had forgot."

"Wha… how could you forget the most important day of your life?!"

"This weird dream…"

"Never mind! We have a celebration that you are late for!" he cut me off.

He grabbed my backpack, and threw it at me. I caught it, barely, and went back to my room to pack.

I headed out to the center of the village where everyone, and I mean everyone, was gathered. I received small amounts of money, food, a large amount of berries gathered by the local Pokemon, and a few homemade trinkets. After a few cheers, hugs, and goodbyes, the village elder appeared along with Duke.

"We have been waiting for this day since the day you were born," the elder said. "I have a few parting gifts that were left for you."

"Left, by who?" I asked, knowing where this was going.

"You see son, I am not your real father. I am your guardian," Duke said.

"I know." I said calmly.

"What? How long have you known?"

"A few years ago. I noticed how different I am from everyone else. I can take the cold as it were summer," I explained. "Ice-type Pokemon are drawn to this village due to its climate, but for some reason fire-type, like Camerupt, are drawn to me particularly. Remember when I found that one Darmanitan that got lost up here, and I was the only one who could care for it?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Since then, I knew I didn't belong here. That, and the fact that I look nothing like anyone here."

"Oh, I see…" Duke said, sounding depressed.

I walked up and hugged him.

"That doesn't mean I see you any different than ten years ago. I just want to find out the truth."

"Well, you are going to need a few things then. Wait here."

He walked back to our house, and came back with a box. He set it on the ground in front of me.

"This is one of my first masterpieces I ever made. I would like you to have it. I know it may seem a little, outdated, but it will work the same none the less."

I opened the box and removed its contents. I removed a set of steel shoulder plates, one of which was larger than the other. Next was some arm armor, one was leather, and the other steel. Leg armor was next, all steel covers for the front of the legs. Last was a thick leather top with a belt to hold everything together.

"Now I have my questions on how old you really are," I said sarcastically.

Everyone laughed, and Duke helped me put everything on. It was a little strange, but fairly light for steel. I thanked him for the gift, and turned to see the elder holding a long box. The box was decorated with gold trimming and a picture of three claw slashes on the center of the lid. Behind him was his son holding a strange rock.

"These was the only items left to you when you were born."

I took the box and opened the lid. Inside was what looked like a sword in a sheath made from stone. The thing looked more like an artifact from thousands of years ago than anything useful. A note clung to the side of the worn blade.

_I know you will make it your journey to know the truth. Take these gifts to lead you to your destiny. The path will be rough, and there will be tragedy. However, within the darkness shines a light. Your team will carry you far, and the friends you make on the way shall carry you further. You cannot complete your task in the land you know. Venture beyond the boundaries of Sinnoh, you will be shocked at what you will find. _

There was no signature, but a seal instead. A shield with a strange looking pokeball that had the same slashes in the center of the top half, behind that was two crossed swords. I put the letter into a satchel attached to my belt, and took the blade from the box. I held the sheath in my left hand, and the hilt of the blade with my right. I started to draw the blade from the sheath, and it made an ear-splitting screech that made all of the nearby Pokemon flinch. I finished drawing the blade, only to see it was in worse condition than its sheath! I was as careful as I could be, as the blade looked as if it would shatter if even someone sneezed. Against my better judgment I took a few swings and found the blade was surprisingly light, and the blade didn't even shatter. I put the blade back, with another nasty screech. I attached the sheath to by belt on the left side of my waist.

"This was also left, but we do not know what it is," the elder said, giving me the stone.

I looked it over, wondering what it was. It was the size and weight of a medium watermelon, and shaped much the same, only it stood on one end instead of long-ways. It had a rigid surface like it has been sitting in the ocean for years. I turned it a few times, and then tried to figure out how I was going to carry it. The elder handed me a makeshift backpack. I accepted it, placed the melon-rock in it, along with a few supplies.

"Good luck, and don't forget to come back and see us you hear?" Duke said, waving.

"Don't worry, when I come back, you won't even recognize me!" I called.

"Be sure to stop by the center at the bottom of the mountain, I'm sure they can point you in the direction of the lab," the elder said.

"I won't, bye!" I called, walking toward the entrance to the town.

I received a large amount of "good luck" and "be safe" comments as I left.

_"Why give me an ancient sword and a rock? A ROCK?!" _I thought to myself as I started the hike down the mountain.


	5. Trouble on the mountain path

The trek is a few miles and will take the greater part of the day. I walked for two hours and found a small cave to rest in. I made a small fire, and laid my backpack on the ground beside. I opened my backpack and removed some berries and a slice of bread. I used a small bowl and a stone to make jam out of the berries. I took a small knife from my satchel and smeared some of the jelly on the slice of bread. I folded the bread and started to eat my sandwich. After I finished it, I started to make another, when I heard a rock get kicked from deeper in the cave. I slowly got up from my spot, a hand on the hilt of my sword. I got ready for whatever came from the darkness, and was shocked when only a small round pebble rolled up to my feet. I looked down at it, let go of my sword, and picked it up. I heard a small whine, like a small puppy. I rolled the pebble back into the dark, where I heard it tap against something. I waited for a few seconds, and it came back. This time I rolled it a little more gently. It stopped at the edge of the darkness. I saw a small figure waddle up and pick it up before rolling it back. I decided to sit down on the ground beside the fire, and rolled the pebble a little closer.

This continued for a few minutes, until a small Bagon emerged from the dark. I watched him pick the pebble up, and was just about to roll it back when he noticed me. He stared at me as if I was going to vanish into thin air. I picked up a slice of bread, and the knife. He backed up a little when I grabbled the knife, and I stuck it into the jam. Not once did I look at him, but I knew he was watching everything I was doing. I spread the jelly on a slice of bread and started to eat it. I knew he could smell the jam, and I wondered if he was curious enough to come closer. I finished the slice, and took out another. I glanced in his direction, and noticed he was halfway to me from where he was before.

_"Wow he's fast, and quiet. I didn't even hear him move."_ I thought.

I started to spread jam on another slice, and glanced again. He was only a few feet away. I heard a familiar roll sound as he rolled the pebble to me. I picked up, looked at him, and smiled. I held out the finished slice of bread, and he slowly waddled over. He kept his eyes on me the entire time. When he got to me, he grabbed the bread, and backed up a ways to eat it. I prepared myself another slice. I was just about to eat it when I felt a tug on one of the straps holding my shoulder plates on. I looked down to see Bagon staring up at me. I sat there about eat the slice I was holding, and I watched his eyes glance from me to my hand and back.

"Ha ha, here you go little guy," I laughed and gave him the other slice.

He ate it so fast, you would swear he hasn't eaten in days. I cleaned the knife off, packed the bread, and was just about to clean the bowl when he grabbed it. The Bagon walked a foot away, and started to help in "cleaning" the bowl. He walked back over, and gave me the bowl covered in Bagon slobber. I looked at him with a crooked smile. He looked up at me, and his smile started to fade, thinking I was mad. My serious mood couldn't hold against his face covered in berry jelly. I started to laugh, and patted him on his head. I used a cloth to wipe the bowl off, and placed both in my backpack.

"Alright little guy, I have to get going," I told the Bagon, putting the fire out.

He looked up at me, apparently not understanding that I was leaving. I picked up my backpack, walked to the entrance of the cave, and heard little footsteps following behind. I glanced back to see Bagon following me from the cave.

"Do you want to come with me?" I asked the trailing Bagon.

A big smile came across his face followed by one of his "yipps."

"Okay, you can follow me down the mountain, ready?"

With another happy yipp, we started down the mountain path.

We walked for a few hours, and I looked up to see a front of black clouds moving in.

_"That is getting a little close for comfort,"_ I thought.

I looked back to Bagon, who was starting to slow his pace.

"Come on little guy, there is a big storm moving in. We have to make it to the bottom before it hits."

He looked up, and tried to move faster, but was not doing much better. The wind started to pick up, snow started to fall, and fog started to roll in.

"This is not right, there shouldn't be fog up here…"

Suddenly, I heard a roar come from the path in front of us. I stopped, and Bagon bumped into my leg. From the fog came a large figure, much taller than I am. I put a hand on my blade, and a Beartic came forward. I looked at him, and he glared at me.

"We are not here to hurt you, we just need to get to the town below!" I called over the winds.

A roar answered me followed by the Beartic charging at us. I dropped my backpack and jumped to the side, grabbing Bagon along the way. I quickly got back up and Bagon had snapped out of his fatigue. He took a fighting stance between the two of us.

"Bagon don't, you will get seriously hurt!" I called.

He ignored me, and charged straight at the Beartic, head lowered for a headbutt. The Beartic blocked it, and hit him off to the side. Bagon shrugged the hit off, and went in with a bite. Again, Beartic countered the attack, and sent Bagon my direction. I caught him, and laid him on the snow. He was beaten up pretty badly, and slipping into unconsciousness.

"Hang in there buddy!" I called.

I noticed Beartic slowly walking towards us. I drew my blade, and took a defensive stance. I stood in front of the wounded Bagon, prepared for Beartic to attack. It charged forward, claws outward. I held the blade in both hands and threw it up above my head to block the attack. I had my doubts the blade would do anything at all, but I had to try. Beartic's claws met the blade, the force being large enough to sink my boots into the snow an inch. We stayed in the interlocked position, both shocked at what just happened. Then I heard something that worried me. I heard what sounded like glass cracking. I looked at the bottom of my blade, and cracks were splitting straight up the blade. Beartic started to put his weight on my blade, and more cracks shattered down the length if it. Beartic cracked a grin, lifted an arm up, and brought it down on the blade.

The blade shattered, I recoiled, and dropped to a knee. The Beartic roared, its claws started glowing, readying an ice punch attack. I held up what was left of my blade, only to be shocked at what I held up. The blade I thought shattered was merely a covering that grew over it with age. The blade shined with a vibrant blue glow. The entire blade looked as if it were blue lava, and the strange oriental frame design that covered it made me curious of its purpose. Strange enough the blade was not sharp, but very dull. The hilt had two holes on the cross, two on the handle, and a large one at the pommel. I was examining the sword so intently I had forgot about the incoming attack. I quickly blocked the incoming ice punch, and a high-pitched ring echoed through the mountains. I watched the blue hue of the blade shift to a more reddish-blue. I countered Beartic's claws, and heard a sizzling noise as I swung. I saw a small amount of steam coming from the blade.

"What _is_ this thing?" I muttered.

Beartic came in with another swing. This time I parried the incoming swing, but instead of just deflecting it, there was a flash of orange, followed by a roar from Beartic. I looked at it, and it had a singe mark on its arm where I parried its attack. I looked again at the blade, and held it above the snow. The snow underneath slowly started to melt.

"An heat sword? What is going on?" I wondered, shocked.

The Beartic backed away, and ran off. The blade changed back to the deep blue it used to be. I placed the sword back into its sheath, and the horrible sound was gone. As the blade clicked into place, the blue light shined through the petrification on the scabbard. The stone cracked and shattered revealing an equally oriental and majestic piece of weaponry. I also noticed a seal on the front with a familiar three claw marks across it. I turned around back to Bagon, who was still lying in the snow. I ran over to him and assessed his wounds. He was in terrible shape.

"I need to get you to a center, don't worry, I will get you to safety."

I grabbed Bagon and ran down the mountain path. The storm started to worsen, visibility was only mere feet, but I ran as fast as I could through it. I ended up slipping down a hill. I stayed on my feet, and surfed down the hill. At the bottom I saw a faint red and white light of the Pokemon Center. I ran as fast as I could toward the small town. When I arrived, I practically broke through the doors.

"What on earth? Those doors are automatic you know," Nurse Joy said with a tone of anger.

"You have to help this Bagon, we were attacked halfway down the mountain," I said with urgency.

"Oh my, Chansey, hurry and get Bagon to urgent care."

A group of Chansey came rushing out with a stretcher, I placed Bagon onto it, and they took off into the ER. I took a seat on a nearby chair, worried about Bagon's condition. A while later nurse Joy came over to where I was sitting.

"Is he yours?" she asked calmly.

"No, I met him in a cave, and he followed me, tried to protect me," I answered.

"Are you a trainer?"

"Not exactly. I just started my journey today."

"Do you even have any pokeballs or a pokedex yet?"

"I do not, I was on my way here to find where I can get those."

"I think I might have a few pokeballs around here somewhere…"

She rummaged around behind her desk, and came back holding three pokeballs.

"Here, these should get you started," she said, giving them to me.

"Thanks, where is the nearest lab I can get a dex from?" I asked, taking the pokeballs and attached them to my belt.

I noticed the nurse silently examining my blade. The look on her face when she noticed the seal worried me.

"You said you were looking for the closest lab?" she asked finally.

"Yes, why? Do you know where the closest one is?"

"I do, you have to take a boat to get there."

"Okay, I will do that, as soon as Bagon is…" I was cut off by the ding of the ER turning off.

The group of Chansey brought a very happy Bagon out of the ER. He stood up on the stretcher and waved. I waved back and walked over to him.

"Feeling better my little guardian?" I asked.

I was answered by a series of happy noises. I picked him up off the stretcher, and placed him on the floor.

"Well buddy, want to go on an adventure with me?"

Bagon jumped up and down, giving happy yipps as he did. I took a pokeball from my belt and rolled it his direction. He picked it up, tapped it on his head, and was beamed inside. The ball rolled a few times before stopping. I picked the ball up and let Bagon back out.

"Alright buddy, let's start our adventure!"

"Before you go, here is a map of your destination and a map to the lab from there," nurse Joy said, giving me a few papers.

"Thank you, I will be back around here sometime," I said as I left.

"Farewell, future knight."


	6. Wrong place, right time

We made our way to the docks that were not very far away. We made a quick stop at the local store to get a few longer-lasting supplies. I got some various medicines, some food, and a few other small things. Suddenly a boat horn went off, both Bagon and I spun around to see the last people boarding a large ship, our ship. We ran across the docks to arrive at the ship just in the nick of time.

"You barely made it, we were just about to leave," a crewman said.

He took my ticket, punched it, and let us board. We walked over to the bow of the ship, and passed an odd pair along the way. A boy, roughly the same age as I am, was asleep on a chair with a sleeping Pokemon beside. The Pokemon was dog-like, but appeared to stand on two legs, with blue and black fur patterns.

_"Luke… Like… Lucario. That's it, Lucario," _I thought. "_Man, they are out cold."_

I took a seat on one of the chairs near the sleeping duo. Bagon started to walk towards the sleeping Lucario out of curiosity.

"Don't bother them, they probably had a long day," I said.

Bagon looked back at me and wandered back over, taking a seat on a chair beside me. The ship's horn sounded off again and started moving.

"Get some rest buddy, we have a big day ahead when we get to shore."

Bagon crawled from his seat on the chair onto my lap, and fell fast asleep.

I almost jumped off the chair as the ship's horn sounded off. Bagon was already wide awake and roaming the area around me.

"Now arriving in Nuvema town, all ashore!" boomed over the spearkes.

I got up, grabbed my backpack, and walked to the bow of the ship. Bagon wandered up beside me and started to jump to get a better view. I lifted him up, and we both watched the shoreline get closer. The ship pulled into the dock, dropped anchor, and tied off on the dock. I carried Bagon to the side of the ship where we got off, passing the still sleeping duo in the process.

_"How can they sleep through those horns?"_ I wondered.

I set Bagon down on the ground after we walked down the ramp leading from the ship.

"The next ship back to Snowpoint in Sinnoh will be leaving in about four hours," the crewman said as I left.

"Okay, thanks. We won't miss it," I replied.

_"What did he mean 'in Sinnoh'? I thought that was where we still were," _I thought.

I took out the map nurse Joy had given me, looked it over and got my bearings, and headed toward where the lab was listed. On our way, we wandered through the small city, noting that there was not much to be seen. Finally we arrived at the lab, a large building that looked like something from the future. I walked up to the entrance, and a woman walked out to greet me. She wore a white lab coat, white shirt, green skirt, and wore her hair in a bun curved off to the side.

"Welcome to Nuvema town! I'm Professor Juniper, are you a new trainer?" she beamed.

"I am Zweii, I was sent here by nurse Joy from Snowpoint to get a pokedex," I answered.

"Snowpoint? You came all the way from Sinnoh just to see me? I thought Professor Rowan could do that, did something happen to him?"

"Uh, no. I did not realize there was a lab closer. Wait, I'm not in Sinnoh anymore?"

"No, did you not know where you were going?"

"I am not yet familiar with all of the regions, I come from a small village far North of Snowpoint not listed on most maps. I only learned the very basics of Pokemon."

"Interesting, how did you manage to catch that Bagon then?"

Bagon looked up at her with the mention of his name, a happy look on his face.  
>"I'm not sure, he tried to protect me but was injured…"<p>

"Then you took him to a center and now he is your friend?" she asked, cutting me off.

"Yes… Is that bad?"

"No, actually, that is very good. It shows you have a natural bond with Pokemon."

"So, what do I need to do to get a pokedex?" I asked, changing the strange topic.

"I can give you one, come with me."

With that, I followed her into the lab with Bagon close behind.

Inside were people moving around in lab coats, Pokemon helping out where needed, and technical equipment as far as the eye could see. We continued through a few hallways, a few doors, and finally into a room with a large computer and a few other strange electronics. Juniper walked to a desk, opened a cabinet, and withdrew a pokedex. She gave it to me and gestured to follow her, again. I placed the dex into my main satchel, and continued behind. This time we walked through a large door into what seemed to be outside.

"Are we outside?" I asked.

"No, we are in a Pokemon research area. This area is specifically for grass and bug-types." Juniper replied.

I watched Bagon run ahead and dive into a flower patch. He started rolling around in the flowers, sending pollen and dust flying into the air.

"You can log the few Pokemon we have here to get your pokedex started."

As I drew my dex from my satchel, I noticed a strange heat radiating from my backpack. I set it on the ground, opened the compartment the rock was in, only to find it was the source of the heat. I placed a hand on it and it turned ice cold like it was before. I noticed Professor Juniper glancing over my shoulder, but did not show I did so.

_"That was weird…"_ I thought.

I looked over to Bagon, who was standing completely still.

"Bagon, are you alright?" I asked from where I was kneeling.

He just stood there, unmoving, staring into the tall grass. Suddenly a large group of Pokemon of all sorts came running from the tall grass. Juniper looked worried and confused.

"That's strange, I have never seen them do that before," she said.

A Scolipede emerged from the grass with an angry look in its face.

"How did that get here? We're not supposed to have a Scolipede here."

Bagon got ready to battle the Scolipede and I got ready to back him up. Scolipede threw the first attack with a poison sting.

"Dodge it and counter with headbutt!" I called.

Bagon jumped off to the side, and hit Scolipede with a solid headbutt. Scolipede followed with toxic, which barely missed Bagon. Scolipede spun, hitting Bagon with its tail along the way.

"That was poison tail!" Juniper called.

"Bagon you okay?" I called to my partner.

He turned around, nodded, and got back into the battle. After a few more exchanged hits, Bagon was looking fairly exhausted while Scolipede was still going strong. Finally Scolipede rolled up into a donut-shape. It rolled like a tire towards the tired Bagon with decent speed.

"Bagon watch out!"

I reached for my blade, but when I tried to draw it, I almost dislocated my shoulder instead. The blade was stuck in its sheath.

"Not now, what is wrong with this thing?"

Suddenly a Pokemon jumped out from behind us, and used tackle to redirect Scolipede.

"Snivy? What are you doing here?" Juniper asked the new Pokemon.

Snivy ignored her, and took a stance with Bagon. They looked at each other and watched Scolipede get back up.

"Alright Bagon, hang in there, Tackle!"

I was shocked that both Pokemon used a tag-team tackle, both hitting Scolipede simultaneously. The Scolipede recoiled backward into a wall. Bagon and Snivy looked at each other then at me. I watched Scolipede start to get back up with an angry glare in its eye.

"Alright, let's wrap this up! One more attack!"

Both charged forward, Bagon with headbutt and Snivy with tackle. Both landed, sending Scolipede into the wall. When the dust cleared, it revealed a fainted Scolipede.

"Yeah, great job everyone!" I called, walking up to where the pair was standing.

"I wonder how did that Scolipede get in here?" Professor Juniper wondered.

From nowhere a red beam hit the Scolipede and it vanished. I looked up where the beam came from only to see a shadow dash off the roof.

"However it got in, I don't think it was to keep the Pokemon here company."

"Are you sure you are not a trainer? That was some good teamwork you showed, even with a Pokemon that is not yours."

"Thanks, maybe I'm just a natural? Either way, I doubt that will be the last incident you will encounter."

"True, I will have someone keep an eye around to be safe."

Bagon was at my side happy that we won, but Snivy was a little further away, happy for the victory, but not like Bagon. I walked over to Snivy, knelt down, and patted him on the head.

"You did great, thanks for the help."

Snivy looked at me, almost shocked to get praise like that. He just stared at me with an almost absent stare, then came the happy smile. He hugged my leg, and I wondered if he had gotten any attention like this before.

"Appears he likes you, would you like to go with Zweii Snivy?" Juniper asked the joyous Pokemon.

Snivy let go, and started jumping up and down with joy.

"Okay, okay, calm down. Zweii, here is his pokeball. Take care of him."

She handed me a pokeball, along with two others and a small medicine kit.

"Take these as well, that will give you the total of six that you may carry. Granted they are empty, but it helps to get trainers started prepared."

"Thanks, don't worry, I take care of my team, just ask Bagon."

Bagon gave an exhausted, but happy and confirming yipp.

"Okay, let's get everyone to the center before the ship leaves without us." I said, beaming Snivy and Bagon back into their pokeballs. "Thank you Professor for everything. If in the future you need any help, let me know."

"Same for you, good luck Zweii," she replied.

I left the building the way we came, and down the road towards the center on the docks where I started.

"Did you see what was in his backpack?" Juniper asked a fellow scientist.

"It looked like a rock, I was more interested in the sheath at his hip," she replied.

"That emblem did look familiar, and that was no rock…"

"What should we do?"

"Keep a guard near all facilities at all times, and see what you can find on that emblem of his. I know I have seen it before."

**A/N Super long chapter, as promised getting far longer. Also, a note on the sword: It has restrictions as seen in this chapter which will slowly start to be revealed as Zweii travels and more of its secrets will be unlocked. The first main Pokemon on Pokemon battle, don't hesitate to let me know where it might need to be improved/fixed. Hope to keep a trend of posting Tuesday/Friday, but I will keep it updated if anything changes. Thanks for the few favs thus far!**


	7. Pirates on deck!

After a quick visit to the pokecenter, I was on my way back to the boat. I passed the trainer and his Lucario as I went out the door, both looked fairly tired still.

_"They couldn't just now be getting off that ship. No, that's ridiculous,"_ I thought.

"Good timing, we will be leaving shortly. We will, however, not be going back to Snowpoint, but to Canalave City. The captain has been told to re-route there instead, we are unsure why and apologize for the inconvenience," the greeting crewman said.

"That's fine, I was going to go south anyway," I replied.

I boarded the ship and headed to the seat I was in before. The horn on the ship went off, but the ship did not move.

"Oh crap! We are in the wrong region! Hold that ship!" a voice yelled from shore.

I looked over the side of the ship to see the trainer and his Lucario bolting for the dock. The crewman at the entrance called to the other crewmembers to hold the lines. The duo jumped on the gangplank, and onto the deck of the ship.

"Thanks, that was too close," the trainer said.

Another horn went off and the ship set off. The trainer sat back into the same seat across me, and started talking to himself.

"How did we oversleep so far as to miss a stop?" he said. "I thought you were supposed to keep watch."

His Lucario shrugged like it wasn't his fault.

"What do you mean you overslept too? We didn't train _that_ much."

Lucario gave him a look of disbelief.

"Okay, so we did, but it is to better the team, right? You even learned a new move."

I caught Lucario shooting me a quick glance.

"Don't be like that, don't judge what you do not yet know."

I closed my eyes, and fell asleep for the journey back to Sinnoh.

I woke up to the sound of a large amount of people shouting.

_"That was fast…"_ I thought.

I slowly got up from my chair, looked around, but noticed we had stopped in the middle of the water.

_"Why did we stop?"_

I looked around only to find my backpack was missing.

_"Oh crap…"_

I spin around only to see a man running away with it.

"Come back here!" I yelled. "Bagon, get that thief!"

I threw Bagon's pokeball toward the thief. It landed just beside him, popped open, and Bagon came flying out with a headbutt. He landed the hit directly in the thief's legs behind the knees. The thief fell backward, dropping my backpack along the way. Bagon jumped and did his best to catch it, but only lessened the impact as it landed on his back instead.

"Nice save! Good job!"

I ran over, grabbed my backpack, and checked its contents. The stone had a small crack along the side of it that I never noticed before, even more strange, it had a slight glow to it. The thief slowly got up, turned to me, and drew his own pokeball.

"Want to play that way 'eh?" he threatened.

He threw the ball, and out came a Venipede.

_"At least it's not another Scolipede…"_

"Poison sting!" the thief ordered.

"Dodge it!" I called.

I glanced down the deck and noticed quite a few other trainers battling a larger number of guys like the thief. Oddly though, most were losing. After landing a hit, their Pokemon would sway and look feverish.

_"I know there is something wrong with these Venipede, but what was it called. No contact, something to do with the skin…"_

"Don't touch the Venipede, something is wrong with it!" I warned.

Bagon looked at me with a 'now what' look.

"Finally, someone smart enough to figure it out. Sadly, you have nothing you can do. Give up!" the thief taunted.

I thought for a moment on what to do next. Before I could make a command, Bagon started coughing.

"Oh no, Bagon what's wrong?"

Smoke started to fume from his nose causing Bagon to inhale through his mouth.

"Venipede, tackle!" the thief ordered.

Just before the tackle landed, Bagon sneezed, throwing sparks and a small amount of fire forward. It hit the Venipede square in the face, causing it to curve sideways and hit the wall. The thief looked at the now unconscious Venipede, shocked. He drew its pokeball, returned it, and ran off.

"Awesome job Bagon, you learned a new move!"

Bagon jumped for joy, sneezing again, and sent a bolt of fire flying past me.

"Save the fireworks for the other Venipede," I said jokingly.

We made our way down the ship, taking on all the Venipede and thieves we could. Finally, we got to the far end of the ship where a man in black and red was standing.

"Is this the little punk who has been causing the trouble in our plan?" he said with a bitter tone.

He had his army of grunts behind him, all of which had some kind of stolen item on them, minus the one who tried to steal my backpack.

"You have no right to ambush a ship and start stealing!" I said.

"What are you going to do? Your Bagon looks pathetic, and I doubt you could take me on yourself."

I looked at Bagon, and he did look fairly tired.

_"I would use Snivy, but he wouldn't stand a chance against these guys,"_ I thought.

"Alright Bagon, we can do this."

This time, instead of a chirp, he let out a growl.

"Whatever you say kid, come on out!"

He threw a pokeball and out came, of course, a Scolipede.

"What is it with you guys and these things?" I muttered.

"Let's make this quick, sludge bomb!"

The Scolipede threw a muddy ball at Bagon, falling a few feet short of hitting him. When it hit, however, it exploded causing Bagon to get pushed back a short distance.

"Do not let one of those hit you!" I called as the dust cleared.

"I'm surprised he is still standing. Sadly, he won't be for long," the man taunted.

Following that, the Scolipede sent out barrages of sludge bombs. Bagon tried his best to keep dodging them, until a different color orb hit the center of the field causing the Scolipede to stop. Bagon fell onto his backside, sitting from exhaustion. The smoke cleared to reveal the Lucario standing between Bagon and Scolipede. In his hand was a large, glowing blue bone.

"Where did you come from? No matter, now I can get a challenge," the man said.

The trainer in black and white from before came up beside me.

"Okay Lucario, this guy has tormented these people enough, let's teach him how we treat thieves," he said.

Lucario let out a cry and held the large bone in two hands, much like a staff.

"Bone rush!"

Lucario charged forward with incredible speed, and took a few swings at the Scolipede. The Scolipede dodged two of the three swings. The Scolipede was faster than I thought it would be. Lucario continued his assault, landing a few hits in where he could. Bagon watched with interest as Lucario fought. He stood back up, reinvigorated, ready to continue fighting.

"Just rest, let's not get in his way," I told Bagon.

I watched the continuing battle unfold, now Scolipede was starting to take the hits and retaliate instead of flinching. Lucario alternated using bone rush and aura sphere, but looked like he was starting to slow down. Suddenly I had a crazy idea come into my head. Bagon looked a little disappointed that he could not help, so I decided to go with my gut feeling.

"How can Lucario do more damage, he's not even making a scratch anymore…" the trainer whispered.

"Where there is a will, there is a way. I have an idea," I told him.

"What do you mean?"

"Bug type hate fire, Bagon has a fire move, but not the power to do anything. Lucario has the power…"

"But not the effect, I know where you are going with this. If it works, you are a genius. Lucario, fall back, we have a new plan."

Lucario jumped back, landing a ways to the right of Bagon.

"Giving up so soon? Ha ha, how sad!" the man taunted.

"Remember what baseball is?" the trainer asked his Lucario.

He nodded.

"Batter up," I said.

Bagon charged an ember shot and Lucario, figuring his role out, took position with his bone rush. Bagon released the ball of fire straight at Lucario. Lucario turned to have his right side facing Scolipede. When the fireball reached Lucario, he hit it with his bone rush, sending it flying with great speed toward Scolipede.

"Scolipede! Dod…"

He was too late, the fireball hit Scolipede and exploded. The Scolipede fell to the ground, but was still not out.

"Crap, I thought that was going to work…" the trainer said.

Bagon started yapping, and tugging on my pantleg. I looked at him, and he was pointing at Lucario.

"Lucario, your bone!" I called, apparently being the only one to notice.

Lucario's glowing blue bone was faintly on fire after hitting the ember attack. He looked at it, and hurled it at Scolipede, hitting it square on the head, and finally knocking it out.

"What?! No! We can't lose, not like this to a couple kids!" the man yelled, returning his Scolipede to its pokeball.

"Now give back everything you stole!" I called.

"Or else, you will be the next homerun," the trainer warned.

"We will meet again, and next time, you will not have such luck on your side."

The man spun around, flashing a strange sash hanging from his belt that was unseen until now. On it was a chained pokeball with a sword through it. Before it hit me, he jumped off the side of the ship with his goons in tail. They landed in a boat beside, and cruised back towards where we departed.

"Well, that was quick thinking on your part," the trainer said.

"Thanks, nice catching on so fast," I agreed.

"It was like we were thinking the same thing…" we said simultaneously.

"That was weird…" I said.

"Yeah…"

"Anyway, I'm Zweii. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Ace. Likewise."

The rest of the ship got reorganized, and we headed on our way once again.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to sleep the rest of the way there. I know Lucario can use the rest as well," Ace said, yawning.

"Yeah, Bagon, get some rest too," I said, returning the almost asleep Bagon to his pokeball.

I looked at Lucario, who just sat down on the floor and closed his eyes.

"Not going to return him?"

"No, he stays out. He can rest and renew his aura better in the fresh air. Good night."

"But, it's the middle of the..." I stopped when I noticed the pair was already out cold.

_"How can they sleep so much?"_ I wondered as I sat on a chair, and watched the waves.

Not long after, we arrived at Canalave City. I got off the ship noticing Ace was up and getting off behind. We made it to the center in the area, and gave nurse Joy our Pokemon to heal.

"Where are you going from here?" Ace asked.

"I'm not sure, probably south and work my way up from there," I answered.

"Not from around here?"

"I'm from a small town isolated at the highest point north, so I don't know the area."

"Oh, then I would make a stop at Jubilife City. Big city with a lot of people, things to do, and info to be heard."

I took my map out to find the city, and was happy to see it was the next one over.

"As for me, I'm going to Oreburgh City for some information and a few other things."

The bell chimed and nurse Joy came out with a tray of pokeballs and Lucario.

"Thank you, ready to go to Oreburgh?" Ace asked Lucario.

He replied with what looked like a fist pump.

"Maybe we will bump into each other again. Good luck!" Ace said as he left with Lucario.

I took my Pokemon, thanked nurse Joy, and headed out the door. I walked across a wooden bridge in the middle of the city and out of the town. I went across an area filled with mostly water, but stayed on the sandbar as much as I could as saltwater and steel don't mix well. It only took me an hour or so to get to Jubilife City. At the entrance, a man in a black coat met me.

"Hey, want to play a game?" he whispered.


	8. Jubilife and Oreburgh

"Excuse me?" I asked the strange man, a hand on my blade.

"Would you like to play a game?" he repeated. "I love games!"

With that, he grabbed the side of his coat and threw it into the air. I tried to draw my blade slightly, but it was still locked in place. Quickly I placed a hand on Bagon's pokeball, ready to use it.

"Let's play hide-and-seek!"

I was shocked to see under the coat was a man in a clown costume.

"What?"

"Hide-and-seek! Can you find all three of us?"

I paused for a moment, looked around, and back at the clown.

"Found one," I said, pointing at him.

"So you have! Two more to go, collect three of these, and go to the large building that way," he said, giving me a ticket and pointing down the road.

"Thank you…"

I accepted the ticket and headed to the building the clown pointed to. On my way I passed a building with a large antenna on it. A man came running out with a camera.

"What a bizarre outfit you are wearing! Are you famous or something? I must interview you!" the man asked.

Before I knew it I was being pulled into the building, sat into a chair on the other side of a desk, and being asked a million questions.

"What is your name? Where are you from? Why are you here? Are you a trainer?" he continued.

I have no idea what made me do it, but I looked down at the floor. Oddly the man in a business suit asking the questions was wearing red shoes.

"Let me ask a question of my own, are red shoes normal for your business or are you just hiding the real you?" I asked.

"Aww, I thought this disguise would last longer. Congratulations, you need to only find one more, and he is very hard to miss."

I was given another ticket, and was on my way. The clown in the suit was right, the last one was hard to miss. A man dancing in a clown suit was standing just outside the large building. I walked up to him to claim my last ticket.

"You guys really need to know how hide-and-seek is supposed to work," I said.

"Most people are younger or older than you, so we need to make it easy. Besides, it's just for fun!"

_"If by fun they mean make everything overly easy…"_ I thought.

I dismissed the thought and headed into the building. A man in a suit, glasses, and no red shoes greeted me at the door.

"Hello, I am the inventor of Poketch. Do you have your three gold tickets?" he asked.

"I do," I said, and handed them to him.

"Excellent! Here is your free Poketch," he said, handing me a strange watch.

"What does it do?"

"Ah, it tells time, and much more! I am not going to tell you what exactly, you will have to play with it and find out for yourself."

_"Great, another cryptic mystery besides this sword,"_ I thought as I put the watch on.

I thanked him and left back out the door. I headed to the other end of town, only to find a sign that read "Oreburgh City."

_"Wasn't that where Ace and Lucario was going?"_

I decided I might as well go to the next city to see what was so important.

It took the later half of the day to make my way over to the neighboring city. I walked into a desert-like town. Upon closer inspection it looked more like a quarry, hence the name OREburgh. I looked over the rather small city.

_"Not much here is there?"_ I wondered.

I walked to the nearby center where I was greeted by yet another nurse Joy.

"How are you today?" she asked.

"I'm doing fine, can I stay the night?" I asked.

"Sure thing! Here is your key."

I took the key, walked down the hall, opened the door, and sat on the bed.

"Aah, feels good to sit down. Speaking of which…"

I took the two pokeballs off my belt and released them. Snivy and Bagon came out and greeted me with a smile.

"Break time everyone, feel free to wander around, but don't leave the room. If you are tired, I will leave your pokeballs here."

I took my armor off and laid it across a chair next to my backpack, then changed into my night clothes. I climbed into bed, and fell asleep to the sounds of Bagon and Snivy's happy calls as they played tag.

I woke up to find Snivy and Bagon asleep on the bed instead of their pokeballs. I started to get up when the pair awoke. They looked at me and at their pokeballs on the nightstand.

"Ha ha, it's fine, so long as nobody snores," I joked. "Let's get packed and ready for what today brings."

I geared back up, grabbed my backpack, and headed out. I decided to let Snivy and Bagon tail behind as they were in their pokeballs most of the day before. We walked to the desk where I gave nurse Joy the key back and paid for the remainder of the night.

"Going to the gym?" she asked.

"I'm not sure, where is it?" I asked in return.

"Just up the road a little bit. Hard to miss."

"Okay, thanks."

We followed her directions and went up the road. We walked up to a large building with a rounded roof and a half-pokeball symbol on the top.

"Think this is the place?" I asked my team.

Joyful cries answered.

"I wonder how this works…"

Suddenly, a happy trainer came out of the front doors.

"That was close! Nice work! First badge of the journey!" he called.

I noticed he had a Lucario in tail.

"Hey, Ace! What's going on?" I called.

"Hey! Guess what?!" he replied, jogging over to us.

"What? You look awful happy."

"We just got our first gym badge!" he showed a small badge. "It's the Coal badge!"

"The what?"

"You don't know what the badges are?"

"No, I have no experience with gyms, badges, or much else regarding being an actual trainer for that matter."

Ace stood there silent for a bit, shocked to what I heard.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's easy. All that battling you did on the ship was good experience. You are a good trainer, you just need to apply it."

"Alright, how?"

"To get a gym badge, you must defeat the gym leader. To do that, you have to make your way through their gym. Some have puzzles or mazes to go through."

"Sounds simple enough."

"The leader of the Oreburgh gym's name is Roark, he is a rock-type leader, so expect that to be his primary team."

"So just go in, make my way through, and challenge him?"

"Yep, that's about it."

"Then we're off to battle the gym!" I called. "Okay, everyone back in, we don't want to be at a disadvantage right off with him knowing who I've got."

I returned both back to their pokeballs.

"Good luck!" Ace called.

I walked up to the doors of the gym, looked toward the roof, and headed inside.

_"Here we go. We can do this."_


	9. Chaos in the forest pt 1

The doors closed behind me as I walked inside. A large field covered in dirt and rocks stood in the center of the large room. I walked to the edge of the field where a white box was outlined. A set of doors on the other end of the field opened, and a man walked out. He was wearing a red hardhat, gray shirt and pants, boots, white gloves, and glasses. He walked to the small white box opposite of me.

"Welcome to the Oreburgh City gym! I'm Roark, are you here to challenge me?" he called from the other side of the field.

"I am Zweii, and I am here to challenge you!" I called back.

Another man in tan clothes walked to the right side of the field, holding a red and green flag.

"Standard single battle. You may use up to six Pokemon, one at a time. First to run out of Pokemon loses," the man said.

"You can do it!" came from the balcony above the man.

I looked up and saw Ace standing behind a railing on a balcony above the field.

"Ready for this?" Roark asked.

"Hopefully…" I muttered, and drew Snivy's pokeball from my belt.

"Good, Geodude go!"

He threw a ball, which opened to reveal a Geodude ready for battle. I released Snivy and he took position on my end of the field.

"Grass-type, good choice," Roark commented.

"Alright Geodude, let's get started with a tackle."

Geodude charged forward towards Snivy.

"Dodge and use tackle!"

Snivy jumped to the side of the oncoming Geodude, and slammed into its side. Geodude barely flinched with the attack.

_"His Geodude is too sturdy for blunt attacks, and Snivy doesn't know any grass-type moves…"_ I thought.

"Geodude, use rock throw."

Geodude threw a shower of stones toward Snivy, who managed to dodge most of them. The next few turns exchanged rocks and tackles.

"Alright Snivy, one more tackle! Give it all you've got!"

Snivy dashed forward, colliding with Geodude head on. The impact was enough to stir up a large amount of dust. Both Roark and I watched intently as the dust cloud settled. Finally, after an intense five seconds, the cloud started to disappear. Sadly the only outcome it revealed was a dual KO.

"Both Geodude and Snivy are unable to battle!" the man with the flags called.

"Good work Geodude, that was intense."

"You too Snivy, you did great."

We returned our feinted Pokemon, and drew our next.

"Let's go Cranidos!" Roark called.

"Okay Bagon, let's win this!"

Both Pokemon were called onto the field.

"This will be interesting!" Roark commented.

"Let's get started with leer!"

Bagon stared at Cranidos and shook his head.

_"Leer. Roark must know Bagon can defeat Cranidos, so he is going to try and lower his defense,"_ I thought.

"Use ember, followed by a tackle."

Bagon shot a fireball at Cranidos resulting in a direct hit. I knew fire would do nothing, but it was enough to distract Cranidos long enough for Bagon's tackle to land.

"Clever move," I heard from above.

"Cranidos, use headbutt!"

"Bagon, show him who has a better headbutt!"

Both Bagon and Cranidos charged at each other, heads collision sent a shockwave powerful enough to rattle my blade in its sheath, not to mention a few bones. The two were interlocked in the center of the field.

"Use leer while he can't move!"

Cranidos's eyes glowed yellow, and caused Bagon's defence to drop again. Bagon started to fatigue, causing him to lose ground as Cranidos pushed him backwards.

"Leer one last time!"

Again, Bagon's defense was devastated. Cranidos reared its head back, sending Bagon into a backflip.

"One last attack, headbutt!"

Cranidos launched itself straight up into the air above Bagon. Cranidos flipped and dove straight down onto Bagon. Both hit the ground with surprising force. When the dust settled, both were standing facing each other. They stood there for a few seconds, until Bagon started to sway and fell forward.

"Bagon is unable to battle. The winner is gym leader Roark," the man said, holding up the red flag.

I walked up to Bagon, and lifted him up. He looked disappointed, almost depressed.

"It's alright. It is my fault. I have zero experience in gym battles, let alone battling in general. You did great. Let's get you to the center, and we will practice so we can win next time," I said.

His mood brightened up a bit before I returned him to his pokeball.

Roark and his Cranidos walked up to me as I put Bagon's ball away.

"Was that true? About your experience?" he asked.

"It was. I grew up in a small snowy village with little to no contact with anything outside it," I explained. "I was schooled on only the basics of Pokemon, nothing on battling. The only trainer is my father-in-law and only had a Camerupt for the forge. I went on this journey to find out about my past, never expecting to become a trainer."

"Interesting, you sure show you have the skill to be a great trainer. Actually, I thought you have been doing it a while."

"To be honest, I had no idea what I was doing, I just went with what my gut was telling me. I was just informed what the gyms were before coming in here."

"Well you did very well, all things considered. With gyms, you can keep challenging them, only once per day though. Practice, train, and come back."

"I will do that, thanks for the experience, expect more next time."

I waved, and walked toward the door. I glanced up at the balcony where Ace was, and he was gone. When I made it outside, Ace was there talking to a man in a lab coat. The man handed him a pokeball, talked to him a little, and left.

"You did great for a first time gym battle," he said, putting the new pokeball on his belt.

"Yeah, I just need more practice. I didn't think it would be that hard."

We walked to the center and got my team healed.

"Follow me. We are going to get you some practical training," Ace said.

"What?" I asked.

Before I could react, he grabbed my arm, and dragged me out of the center.

"Where are we going?"

"We are going to a place where Lucario and I practiced. It is peaceful and quiet."

Before I knew it, we were passing back through Jubilife City. We exited through the north entrance, and continued up a grassy road. We entered a city named "Floaroma Town." It was filled with flowers of all kinds and colors. I didn't get to see much of it as we went straight through the small town. We ended up deep in a forest.

"This is Eterna Forest. A peaceful forest with very few people trafficking through it," Ace said when we finally arrived.

"So what are we going to do here?" I asked.

"I am going to teach you how battling works, and work on teamwork between you and your team."

He drew a pokeball from his belt, threw it, and a strange Pokemon came out.

"What is that?" I asked.

"This is why I went to Oreburgh. I found a fossil, and wanted to see what it was. Come to find out, it was a fossilized Pokemon. Say hello Kabuto."

The Pokemon let out a screech noise.

"Okay, let's go Snivy," I said, letting him out.

"First thing you should do every matchup is take out your pokedex. See what you are up against."

I took out my dex and pointed it at the new Pokemon.

_"Kabuto: Rock/Water-type: Shellfish Pokemon"_

"See, you chose Snivy to battle against a rock/water-type, making it very effective. As you go, you will learn these, don't worry."

"Ah, so that is how it works."

"Second thing you want to do is look at the opponent's Pokemon. Is it fatigued, pumped, even fat. Check the condition they are in. After that, do the same to the trainer."

"So yours look confused, which is normal if you just got it. As for the trainer, foolish, insane, and a little fat."

"Good, wait!"

"Ha ha, just kidding. Ready to go, confident, but slightly over confident."

"Hmph. Next, usually, the challenger takes first strike. Make it good, but accurate."

"Alright, use tackle."

Snivy went to start, but looked back instead.

"What's wrong?"

A long vine came from each shoulder, and he pointed at them questionably.

"That's vine whip, would be better against a rock-type. Why didn't you use it in the battle with Roark?"

"I didn't know Snivy learned it. When?"

Snivy started rocking back and forth, gesturing a boat.

"On the ship?"

Snivy nodded.

"Next lesson, know your team. That would have been the turn around at the gym…"

"How can I tell?"

A beep was coming from my watch as if it could hear me. I looked down at it, and a pixilated picture of Snivy came up. I tapped on it, and not only did all the moves that he knew come up, but his basic stats too.

"What is that?" Ace asked.

"It's called Poketch. Basically a watch that can do all kinds of things, but I was not told what. I guess a team monitor is one thing."

"That's useful."

"Okay Snivy, sorry for my incompetence. Let's do this!"

Snivy gave a small fist pump, and got into battle position.

"Use vine…"

I was suddenly cut off by a scream. All of our attention was diverted to the direction of the scream. Ace's Lucario jumped up into a tree to get a better view. After a few seconds, he came back down, and stood beside Ace right side to his right.

"Did you ever notice that giant house on the hill back there?"

"Not when we were training here before…"

"Let's go see what happened."

We returned our Pokemon, and headed out.

It took a while to get through the thick forest. Lucario had to keep going up and down trees to guide us I the right direction, always landing beside Ace in the same fashion before turning around and leading onward.

_"Why does he keep doing that…"_ I wondered.

We finally arrived at the large house. Another ear-splitting scream echoed from inside the mansion. I looked around us, noticing how creepy it was.

"You can't even tell if it is night or day right now…" I mentioned.

"You're right. This place gives me the creeps," Ace said.

We walked up to the doors, and each laid a hand on the door. We looked at each other, and threw the doors open. Lucario dashed through the doors as they flew open, ready for anything inside. We slowly made our way inside, being as quiet as possible. It suddenly became very difficult to do so when the doors flew shut with a loud bang. We looked at each other, obviously freaked out. We made it to the bottom of the stairs, where we stopped.

"Do you hear that?" Ace asked.

I listened and could barely hear, what sounded like, a refrigerator running.

"I hear a fridge. So?"

"According to this," he said, looking at a guidebook. "This house has been abandoned for a long time, and is supposedly haunted…"

"Great, let's just head back…"

"What?"

"We did come in that way, right?"

Ace turned around, only to almost drop his book. The door we came in from was gone.

"Please tell me we got spun around and ended up somewhere else in the house…" he said.

"No, we are literally a few steps in."

"Okay, there has to be a reasonable…"

"Shh, listen."

We stood there listening, before Ace looked at Lucario. He shrugged.

"What? I don't hear anything."

"Exactly, where did the fridge go?"

Suddenly a loud crash came from upstairs. We ran through the upstairs door into a large hallway with even more doors.

"Which door?" I asked.

"Why not…" Ace started.

"Don't you DARE say to split up. Nothing ends well in this situation when people split up."

Suddenly a washing machine was sitting at the end of the hallway.

"Was that always there?" I asked.

"Uh, no…" Ace replied.

Then the machine took a step in our direction. We took a step back. The machine took another forward, and opened the front. A pair of underwear flew out at us, hitting Lucario in the face. He slowly pulled them off, clearly angry. A blue glow began to form in his right hand. A blue transparent bone formed, and he charged forward with it.

"Lucario, wait!" Ace tried, but was too late.

Lucario destroyed the possessed washing machine until only a pile of parts remained. We watched as a small spark of light flew into a nearby fan, and it came after us. Lucario made quick work of that appliance as well, still enraged. The ball of light sat there, hovering a ways above the floor. I heard a slight click sound, which drew my attention to my hip. My sword was an inch out of its sheath. I placed a hand on the hilt and started to draw it from its sheath.

_"That's odd…"_ I thought.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightening shot out of the ball of light. By sheer reflex, I threw the blade in front of me to deflect the attacks. I parried the lightning bolt, which flew and hit the side wall. Ace and Lucario dove behind a nearby outcrop in the wall as a barrage of lightning was being fired from the orb. I continued to parry each bolt as it came.

"Bagon, Snivy! I need some help!"

I glanced at my belt, only to find all my pokeballs were missing.

"Ace, my Pokemon are gone!"

He checked his belt, and his were missing too. Lucario only stayed because he was outside his pokeball.

_"Crap, I can't keep this up."_

"Lucario, help…"

"No, don't send him out. He is part steel-type, it is too risky."

The last bolt that hit the blade arced backward over my head, and hit my backpack. I braced for an electrical bolt, but nothing happened. The orb stopped firing, apparently wondering why I wasn't hurt. Suddenly, a crackling sound coming from my backpack broke the silence.

**A/N CRAP! So close to posting on Halloween. Dang, this chapter took too long to write. This is NOT the entire chapter. I will have the remainder out tomorrow, I promise! Stick with me this next week, been really busy and going to be bust next week.**


	10. Chaos in the forest pt 2

A beam of light burst from behind, and shot in front of me. When the light faded, a sword fitted in a sheath was hovering in front of me. The blade looked very strange, and the sheath even stranger. What's more is the red and purple cloth that attached to the end. The cloth wound down, grabbed the center of the sheath, and drew itself. Now hovering in front of me was a blood red blade "holding" its own sheath. It gave off a strange metallic sound before disappearing in a puff of shadowy smoke.

_"What was that?"_ I thought.

The orb started to charge another bolt. I braced for impact, hoping the last of my stamina would hold up. Suddenly the sword came back in another puff of smoke, but behind the orb. It slashed through the air like someone was swinging it. Trailing the swing was a dark residue of energy. The hit landed with a small burst of energy. The orb flinched, the attack stopped, it flew down the stairs, and into the neighboring room. I dropped to a knee from exhaustion, leaning on my blade to hold me up.

"You okay?" Ace asked.

"Go, hurry, it went into the kitchen!" I called.

Ace and Lucario dashed down the stairwell and into the dining room. I looked at the hovering sword, and noticed it had an eye where the hilt met the blade.

"Are you… a Pokemon?"

The sword almost…bowed. I took my pokedex from my satchel and pointed it at the strange Pokemon.

_"No data found."_

"Why did you help me?"

The Pokemon fitted itself back into its sheath, and hovered over to me. The cloth coming from it moved like an arm toward me. Three of the four splits at the end curved back, the remaining one pointing to my blade.

"You know who this blade belonged to…"

The extended split pointed upwards like a "thumbs up" gesture.

"Then that stone, was an egg?"

Another "thumbs up." A loud explosion broke the moment. I slowly got back up, almost falling over.

"Let's go help Ace."

We made our way down the stairs and into the doorway of the dining room.

"Zweii, watch out!" Ace yelled.

I barely dodged an incoming blast of snow and ice. I looked around to see a destroyed oven and what used to be a lawnmower.

"What is going on?" I called over the sudden frigid winds.

"That orb can take over various appliances. The type and attacks also change when it does. Best guess is this fridge is the last its got." Ace replied. "Let's go Lucario, take this thing out!"

Lucario shrugged off the frigid winds as he prepared another bone rush. He dashed forward, and took one of the refrigerator's doors off. The strange color and design of the appliance faded as the ball of light dashed out of it. The icy winds died out, and we were sitting there staring the orb down. The orb grew two bolt-like wings, a face, and a needle-like form on its head. Ace and I both took our dexes out and scanned it.

_"Rotom: Electric/Ghost type: Plasma Pokemon"_

"It also says it can change form depending on the appliance it takes over," Ace said.

"That would explain a lot," I replied.

"Lucario, let's see if we can catch it."

"With what?" I asked. "All our pokeballs are gone."

He reached into the inside of his shirt, and withdrew a pokeball.

"Always carry a spare."

The strange smile on Rotom suddenly faded. It threw a lightning bolt at Ace, which Lucario blocked with his bone rush.

"Aura sphere!"

Lucario put his glowing blue bone away, and started to charge a glowing orb in his hands. Rotom charged another bolt of lightning. Both let their attacks lose simultaneously. The aura sphere met the bolt of lightning, and slowly started to cut through it. The Rotom froze, shocked, and took the aura sphere to the face. Rotom fell to the floor, its wings jolting as if it was shorting out. Ace threw the pokeball at the shorting Pokemon. It hit Rotom, beamed it inside, and started to rock. It was an intense few seconds as we all stared at the flashing and rocking ball. Finally there was a click, the red light went out, and the ball stopped moving.

"Yeah! Awesome job Lucario! We got Rotom!" Ace cheered.

"Good for you, now all we need to do is find our Pokemon," I said.

The sword Pokemon vanished.

"Where did it go?" Ace asked.

There was a loud metallic clang, followed by an inhuman shriek. Shortly after the sword reappeared unsheathed. Seconds after, another Pokemon appeared.

"A Haunter. That makes sense," Ace said.

The sword Pokemon prodded at the Haunter. It looked disappointed, and strangely, scared. Haunter took each hand and withdrew all of our Pokemon and extra pokeballs in its hands. It gave them back to us, and vanished. Ace and I attached all of the pokeballs back to our belts. I noticed the sword Pokemon was pointing at my belt after re-sheathing itself.

"You want to come with us?" I asked.

It bowed.

I withdrew one of the remaining empty pokeballs and tossed it to the sword. It caught the ball, tossed it up, and beamed inside. It only took a few seconds to settle.

"I can see we are going to be a good team," I said, picking the ball up and attaching it.

I heard a beep coming from my watch as the new Pokemon's data was added.

"Honedge? According to this, that is what his name is. That's strange his data is not in the dex," I said.

"We should head back to Sandgem Town and talk to Professor Rowan," Ace suggested.

"I agree, now let's get out of this creepy place."

We turned around to see the doors reappeared. We exited through them, made our way back through the forest, and headed to Sandgem Town.

_"What does all this mean? Does Honedge know my parents? One mystery leads to many others. Will the first ever be solved?"_ I wondered as we walked.


	11. A lesson from the Professor

After a long walk back from the forest, we finally ended up at Sandgem Town. The town was very small, and there were not very many people wandering around either. A center, general store, the lab, and a few houses were all I could see.

"This is a very small town, you sure we can find what we need?" I asked.

"I hope so, Professor Rowan is the only one I know of in this region that might be able to help us," Ace replied.

We walked into a building filled with people in white lab coats. Standing out among the crowd was a man with spiky white hair, a bushy mustache, and sideburns that went down to his chin. He stood over a computer working away at what looked like a pokedex screen, however it was much larger than what mine was.

"Professor Rowan?" Ace asked.

"Hmm? Yes?" he said, turning around.

"We are trainers, and have a few questions to ask," I said.

"Go ahead."

"We stumbled across this strange mansion deep in Eterna Forest."

"Ah, the old Chateau. Some say it is haunted. Strange things go on about in that house."

"We know, we had a run into with the culprit," Ace said.

"Did you now? What was it, may I ask?"

Ace withdrew his pokeball containing Rotom, and let him out.

"That's a Rotom! How did you manage to catch it?"

Ace told his side of the story while he and Lucario battled Rotom.

"There is only one other person that I know who has ever caught a Rotom, Professor Oak."

"There is one other thing," I said.

"Oh? Something else you found in the Chateau?"

"Somewhat. I was given a strange rock and this sword when I stated my journey. Come to find out, when the rock was struck by Rotom's lightening, it changed."

"Changed? Like the look of it?"

"No, it was an egg. It hatched into this strange Pokemon that even my pokedex didn't know."

"Did you catch it?"

"I did, and when it registered in my Poketch, it was called Honedge."

I grabbed Honedge's pokeball, and released the strange Pokemon. Honedge hovered there, sheathed, staring at Professor Rowan. It started to stretch out its "arm" as if wanting to shake the professor's hand. Professor Rowan tensed and backed up a step.

"He only wants to shake your hand," I said, confused by his worry.

"That is a Honedge. It has been said they can drain a person's life force when they wrap that cloth around their arm."

Ace looked concerned for my safety, Lucario backed it up.

"Honedge, is this true?" I asked.

The cloth slowly lowered, as if he was disappointed. He turned to face me, raised the cloth, hand flat, and shook it side to side.

"Somewhat? So, not all the time? So, what, is it by choice?"

A confirming thumbs up.

"So if you just don't like someone, or they try to hurt you?"

Another confirming yes. I reached out a hand, having complete trust in him, and offered a shake. The cloth reached out, wrapped around my arm, and the end grasped my upper arm. Suddenly I felt a surge of energy, and my vision faded to black.

"Zweii!" Ace called.

The dream started back up again, but this time it was…different.

"Don't touch us! He's sending a telepathic scene," I called.

This time there was much more detail. The armies were men in light plate armor and leather, much like mine. I could make out individual Pokemon on each side, faces and weapons, but still could not make out the man in front of the banner. This time, however, he was wearing a red cape. The four knights had more detail, and the Pokemon they were riding still could not be seen, but their silhouettes were much more defined. An extra scene was added to the vision, which I have never seen before. The knight that retreated flew through the darkness to a village. After landing, it took its helmet off, dropping it onto the ground. Long hair blew in the wind, confirming the knight was a woman. She withdrew a stone and handed it to a short man. She then gestured to her Pokemon, which bowed its head and flew off.

The vision faded, my eyesight came back, and Honedge let go.

"Are you okay?" Professor Rowan asked.

"Yes. I have been having this dream, and Honedge gave me some insight to it," I said.

"How do you mean?" Ace asked.

"He confirmed that he knew the original owner of my sword. When he linked himself with me, I think his memories began to override my vision. That, and the strange knight in my dream gave someone a stone that looked like his egg."

"Interesting, so Honedge can link with others with its arm as well as drain them," Rowan said.

"You seem to know quite a bit about Honedge," Ace said.

"Come with me."

The professor walked over to the computer that he was on when we arrived.

"I have been working on what is called a Nationaldex. It is a pokedex with every known Pokemon logged into it. I was just finishing the prototype program when you two arrived."

He looked at both of us, at the hovering Rotom who was bothering Honedge, and back at his computer.

"How about you two give it a test run? By the looks of your current team, I can tell you will go places. Only catch is you keep all Professors you meet in any region updated on any data you add, especially me. Deal?"

Ace and I looked at each other, smiled, and withdrew our pokedexes.

"You have a deal," I said, giving him my dex.

Ace gave his as well and Rowan placed them into the computer. There was a series of beeps, buzzes and other strange sounds, and both dexes were ejected. The professor returned them to us, and we put them back where they belong. He walked us to the front door.

"You two take care on your journey. Be careful, you never know what secrets will be revealed along the way," Rowan said.

"Don't worry, we will! Thanks for everything!" I called as we left.

Ace returned Rotom to its ball, and I returned Honedge.

"Where to next?" I asked.

"You have a gym badge to earn, and we still need to get you better at battling," Ace replied.

"Okay, but promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Not in Eterna Forest again…"

We both laughed and headed back to the outskirts of Oreburgh City.

**A/N:Well, may have to change the title, the lab area was a longer part than expected. Either way, will be posting Fridays now. Thinking on starting on another story on Dark Souls sometime between now and December. Big gym battle next week, we shall see what chaos will come from it.**


	12. Training, with a twist

"Honedge, shadow sneak!" I called.

Honedge disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kabuto slowly turned in circles, searching for its opponent. A shadowy silhouette of Honedge slid along the ground toward the anxious Kabuto.

"Kabuto jump!" Ace called, seeing the shadow.

Kabuto vaulted into the air as Honedge launched up from the dark. Time seemed to slow as Honedge's blade swung but an inch under Kabuto.

"Tackle with your arm!"

Honedge tossed his sheath skyward and grabbed Kabuto with his cloth arm. He proceeded to throw Kabuto to the ground. Honedge's sheath spun towards the ground, landing on the dazed Kabuto, only to bounce up and get caught by Honedge.

"Awesome move! We will have to remember that," I said.

Honedge hovered back to the area in front of me, ready to continue. Kabuto, however, was not as eager.

"It's okay Kabuto, you did your best. I did not expect that kind of move. I can see someone thinks outside the box with their attacks," Ace said, giving Honedge and I a strange look.

Bagon and Snivy were behind me cheering us on, while Lucario stood behind Ace and observed the battle.

"Good, you are getting better. We should take a break before going again," Ace said.

"Aw, come on! We've been at this for hours already. I'm beat," I said, sitting on the ground.

"Can't have too much practice."

"No, but you _can_ do too much in one day. Just because you two went through thorough training, doesn't mean we all did. That reminds me, what did you two do for Lucario to be able to do so well against Rotom?"

"We traveled all over Hoen, from the volcanic area by Mt. Chimney, to the coasts of Dewford Town. Both of us trained our bodies and minds throughout our travels."

"How old are you? You don't look any older than I do…"

"Oh, I'm ten. We just started early, with my father. When I turned eight, a group of people came to our house and he left with them. He left Riolu in my care, but we never got along."

"What happened to him?"

Ace did not answer, instead, he shifted uneasily. Instead he ignored my question and continued his story.

"He did not care for me too much at first, even when I tried to prove myself. Everyday I would try to wrestle or skirmish, but would always lose."

I caught some movement from Lucario, and noticed he had a smirk on his face that he was trying to cover. Bagon wandered over to him to see what was going on.

"Try and try again, I could never beat him."

"He _is_ a fighting type…" I said.

"I knew that, but I needed to prove I could stand my own beside him. That I was like my father, able to be a legendary trainer…"

_"Legendary trainer? Who is his father…"_ I thought.

"One day, I actually landed a hit. He quickly retaliated, and we got into this huge fight. By the end of it, both of us could barely stand. After that, we had more respect for each other. Not long later, Riolu evolved, and here we are today."

"Quite the story, much better than mine…"

I explained my story with Ace, Lucario, and even the rest of our teams listening in.

As I summed up the ending, Ace stood up to stretch. It was starting to get dark out, so I had Bagon light a small campfire. We unpacked our camping gear, the minute amount that we had.

"Is that all you have?" I asked.

"Yep, we never use much, just the essentials," Ace replied, taking a toothbrush out of his bag.

"Me neither, growing up in the mountains allows one to be able to sleep in any weather, with or without blankets."

I simply leaned back against a rock, crossed my arms, and relaxed. I heard a rustling, only to look up and see Lucario on a low branch in a tree. Ace sat at the base, leaning against it.

"Looks like we have similar sleeping habits too."

We laughed. Ace returned Kabuto to its pokeball, and started to fall asleep. I did the same to my team, minus Bagon who had already fallen asleep on my lap.

I woke up in the middle of the night to some voices in the distance. I looked down to my lap and found Bagon was gone. I quickly shuffled to my feet, scanning the area, and noticed Ace and Lucario were gone too. I followed the voices through some trees until I got to a hillside. Ace and Lucario were standing at the top of the hill, doing some strange movements. The voices were coming from the pair, but Ace was the only human I saw. A twig snapped off to my side, making me turn. I watched as Bagon wandered from the brush towards the duo. Ace and Lucario stopped their movements as Bagon reached them.

"Curious little guy. Come to join us?" Ace asked.

Bagon nodded.

"Lucario, do you mind?"

_"I do not,_" a voice said.

"Where did that come from?" I whispered.

Ace and Lucario went back to their slow movements.

"We are channeling our aura. Slow movements replicating ocean waves and current," Ace explained.

I tried not to laugh as Bagon tried to duplicate the movements with his small arms and legs. They continued for a few minutes, Bagon looked like he got the hang of it, and stopped.

_"What is your opinion on your friend Zweii?"_ the voice asked.

"He's a good person. Funny, curious, but dedicated when it counts. There is something about him though that I cannot read," Ace replied.

_"Indeed. I cannot sense a piece of his aura, which is strange, almost as if he didn't even know it was there."_

"So a piece of his soul is missing? That's crazy, even for you."

_"Not missing, undiscovered. Much like you had, but no where close as large."_

"I knew what I needed to do for mine, simply find out where father went."

_"Yes, may he rest in peace."_

I quickly thought of a good reason to walk out of my hiding spot and into this awkward situation. I stood up, and wandered tiredly towards the group. I gave a false yawn and a stretch.

"There you are, I woke up and noticed everyone was gone," I said.

"Bagon followed us to do some aura channeling," Ace replied.

"Oh, I also heard voices. Talking to yourself again?"

He tensed slightly, then briskly pulled out a strange device.

"This is a holocaster. It is much like a phone, but mobile and projects the person you are talking to. I called home to check on them."

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Bagon walk to stand beside Lucario, and glance up at him.

"Hm, that must be quite the speaker then, it sounded so close."

Bagon was now pointing at Lucario. He looked down at the small Pokemon that was accusing him.

"Yeah, these things are pretty cool."

Now Bagon was jumping up and down, while pointing at Lucario. Lucario responded by taking his right foot, and scooted Bagon away from him. I looked at the two, Lucario stood there looking innocent, and Bagon looked dumbfounded.

"Where did you get it?"

Bagon ran back over to Lucario, stood between his feet this time, and pointed up while jumping.

"I was given it by someone in a coat back when I first started my journey. Never found out who it was."

Bagon began yipping, jumping, and pointing to Lucario. Shortly after there was a sudden thump. Ace and I both turned to see Lucario standing there, arms crossed, with an innocent look on his face. Lying at his feet was a knocked out Bagon.

"What happened?" I asked.

Lucario quickly shrugged, looked down, picked up a rock in one hand, and pointed to a bush with the other.

"So you're telling me something threw a rock at him…"

Lucario nodded.

"So you said you called home?" I asked Ace.

"Yes, so?" he replied.

"Last you said, your father was gone. How was there a masculine voice at home then?"

Both Lucario and Ace tensed up.

"My cousin is there."

Suddenly Bagon snapped out of his state, and jumped onto Lucario. He crawled onto his back were Lucario could barely reach, and started hitting him on the shoulders. Lucario tried frantically to get Bagon off, but could not reach or get a grip on him. Bagon was not really hurting him, but apparently was really annoying him.

"Bagon, stop," I said.

He shook his head, and continued. I looked to Ace, who was holding his face in the palm of his hand.

_"Would you get off me!"_ finally echoed through the hills.

Bagon hopped off Lucario, and was hopping and pointing again in almost a "see I told you" attitude.

"I knew it," I said.

"Well, I didn't think we could keep that secret for long. I'm just surprised Bagon knew," Ace said with a sigh.

"Actually, you had me suspicious from the beginning."

"What?"

"Talking to yourself on the boat, the strange way Lucario would stand beside you, and the fact that he knows exactly what you want him to do after talking to yourself for a while. Bagon knew you were different when we first saw you two asleep on the ship."

"Oh."  
>"I just thought you had some kind of strange communication, but I never would have seen speaking english as a possibility."<p>

"Yeah, it started a bit after he evolved into Lucario. My best guess is he is a fast learner, and picked up on the language. That, and we found him as a Riolu rummaging through our books a few times."

"Interesting, we should talk some more in the morning. I have a big day ahead, and need to get some sleep. Come on Bagon, back to sleep."

Bagon seemed disappointed, but trudged behind back to camp. We fell back asleep under the stars, ready for the rematch the next day.

_"A talking Lucario. Interesting. I wonder if any Pokemon can learn to talk. Would sure make training better and relationships easier to forge."_


	13. The evolution of battle

I stood in front of the large doors leading into the Oreburgh gym.

"You can do it this time. Good luck," Ace said as he and Lucario walked into the observation area.

"He's right, this time, we will win," I said.

I opened the doors into the familiar large, rock covered room.

"Roark! I'm back to beat you this time!" I called through the doors.

I walked onto the field, noticing a few rocks were crumbled. Roark walked out through the back doors, taking position on his side of the field.

"What happened here?"

"Someone broke in and vandalized the arena. No matter though, not like we have plenty of rocks everywhere to replace them," he said with a laugh.

"Anything missing?"

"Strangely no, we haven't the slightest idea what they were even after."

"We can postpone our battle if necessary, until it gets resolved?"

"No! You have a badge to earn! On we go!"

The referee with the flags came back out, taking position on the side of the field.

"Standard single battle. You may use up to six Pokemon, one at a time. First to run out of Pokemon loses," he said.

"Ready when you are!" Roark called.

I knew he would most likely choose Geodude first again, start small and work your way up. I withdrew Snivy's pokeball, and tossed it onto the field. Snivy came out, ready to fight, and the pokeball flew back to me.

_"That was weird… Didn't know these could do that…" _I thought.

"Let's mix it up! Onix, go!" Roark called.

The pokeball broke to reveal a giant serpent made of boulders.

_"Naturally…"_

Snivy looked nervous, as Onix outsized him fifty-to-one.

"We can still do this Snivy, the bigger they are the harder they fall."

Snivy gained some confidence on the situation, readied his position, and awaited a command.

"Let's get started with a tackle," I said.

Snivy dashed forward towards Onix.

"Counter it with bind," Roark said.

Snivy hit Onix doing very little, and was picked up by Onix's tail. Onix started to squeeze Snivy, bringing its head downward close to the bound Snivy.

"Vine whip Onix's face!"

Two vines flew from Snivy's shoulders toward Onix's face.

"Move back!" Roark called, but was too late.

The two vines slashed at Onix's face. With the element advantage, it dealt severe damage. Onix reared back and dropped Snivy, who jumped back to my side of the field.

"One more round of vine whip!"

Snivy dashed forward, climbed up the back of the still recoiling Onix, and proceeded to hit the back of its head this time. Onix roared and fell forward. Onix crashed onto the floor, sending Snivy flying off from the shockwave. Snivy landed on his feet behind me. The dust cleared showing a fainted Onix.

"Onix is unable to battle," the referee called.

"You have gotten better! Good job Onix," Roark said, calling Onix back.

He threw his next team member, which turned out to be Geodude.

_"Good, Cranidos is last. Perfect,"_ I thought.

"Geodude, use rock throw."

"Snivy dodge, then use tackle."

Geodude grabbed a rock and threw it towards Snivy. He dodged to the side with ease, then slammed into the side of Geodude.

"Keep up the rock throw!"

Geodude turned into a rock-throwing weapon. It would scoop up any nearby rock or pebble in each hand, then immediately throw it. Snivy has having trouble dodging them all. The pebbles progressively got larger until they were the larger rocks on the field. Geodude grabbed a large rock in both hands, lifted it above its head, and was about to throw it.

"Okay Snivy, catch it with vine whip, and send it back at 'em," I said quietly.

Snivy nodded.

Geodude threw the large rock through the air towards Snivy. He jumped into the air, withdrew his vines, did a backflip over the rock while grabbing it, and threw it. Because of the movement and execution, the rock maintained its speed and force. The rock hit Geodude spot on. The rock shattered into pieces on impact, sending them in all directions. Roark and I both covered our faces, Snivy dove behind a boulder, and Geodude fell to the ground with a thump.

"Geodude is unable to battle!" the referee called.

"Good job Geodude, we need to work a little more on that."

"Great job Snivy, get some rest."

We recalled our team members, and got ready for the last round.

"You have gotten better, but can you win against Cranidos?" Roark asked.

Roark threw a pokeball with Cranidos emerging.

"You bet we are. This time we're going to win!" I said, calling Bagon out.

Bagon was pumped and ready for a rematch, and apparently so was Cranidos.

"Bagon, headbutt, give it all you've got!"

Bagon charged forward, kicking up a few rocks and some dust. He was running at a faster speed than before.

"Cranidos, show him the power of your headbutt!" Roark called.

Both bet in the center of the field, and again a shockwave shot through the gym. It was another fight of strength. Soon, Cranidos was starting push Bagon backward again.

"Come on buddy, you can do this!" I called.

Suddenly there was a flash of light coming from the center of the field. I looked at the duel occurring in the center of the field. Cranidos had its eyes closed due to the light coming from in front of it. I checked my beeping Poketch, and Bagon was missing. In his place was a shadow with the name "Shelgon." The light grew until there was a bright flash. Standing in Bagon's place was a new Pokemon. It looked like a giant plated ball with feet.

"Bagon?"

Instead of his usual yipp, he answered in a grunt.

"Shelgon. Okay Shelgon, let's show them what for!"

Due to his new size and strength, he reversed the tides of the battle. Cranidos began to get pushed backward, leaving small ruts in the ground. More small growls came from Shelgon. He broke the guard of Cranidos, who flinched backward.

"Great job, let's finish it with a tackle!"

Shelgon curled his legs into his shell, and rolled with incredible speed to Cranidos. The collision sent Cranidos flying across the stadium and into a large boulder.

"Cranidos is unable to battle! Gym leader Roark is out of usable Pokemon. Challenger Zweii is victorious!" the referee called, holding up the green flag.

"Alright Shelgon! You did great!" I said, catching the charging Shelgon.

I almost fell backward as he hit me, not used to his new size and weight. On the front of his shell was nothing more than a dark hole with two happy eyes looking up at me. Roark was talking to Cranidos, then returned it to its pokeball. He proceeded to walk towards a large boulder in the corner of the room. He tapped it a few times and it opened. He withdrew a strange item from it, and walked towards us.

"Here is the Coal Badge. You have earned it," he said.

In his outstretched hand was a small pin. I took the badge, opened my satchel, withdrew the piece of cloth my blade was wrapped in, and pinned the badge to it.

"Might those be what the thieves were after? If they broke rocks, then that has to be it," I asked.

"Why break in to steal a bunch of gym badges?" Roark answered.

"Another mystery to the large puzzle that I am striving to solve. Keep me up to speed as much as you can, if anything comes up, let me know if I can help."

"Will do. Good battle."

"Good battle."

I shook his hand, gave a small bow, and started to walk towards the door. Suddenly, Lucario jumped from the observation area down to the field.

_"We are about to have company. Some from above, some from the front door,"_ Lucario said.

Ace jumped down to our level, using a pillar to slide down.

"Did that Lucario…" Roark started.

"Talk? Yes. What is going on Lucario?" Ace replied.

_"There is about to be another group of thieves coming in here. Thirty seconds."_

"Is there a center around? We need to heal our teams if we are going to guard this place."

"No, but I have some medicine we can use."

We each called out our team members and healed them to max standards. Just in time if that, the front doors were thrown open. A group of guys in black came through, must have been ten of them. Another group broke through the windows in the ceiling. I heard the familiar click of my sword being unlocked, knowing we were in for quite the fight. I, however, was not prepared.

"Search everything! Leave no rock unturned! I know the badges are here! The master demands that they be confiscated!" a man called as he walked through the door.

The man wore a medieval age coat with small plates on the shoulders. Covering his head and face, was a blood red hood with a small cape attached and mask that covered the bottom of his face. Flowing on the cape was a symbol I have seen before, the pokeball with chains and a sword through it.

"No…it can't be… This 'master' of theirs _has_ to be the man from my visions…"

"Move out of the way fools!"

"Who are you! What do you want with the badges?" Roark asked, a hand at his pokeball belt.

"We are the Black Legion. Now step aside, or be cut down."

I noticed he had a sword sheath at his side, whether it had something occupying it was another question.

"You shall do no such thing. We will stand our ground, and you will not win. Leave before things get ugly."

"Ha! No puny boy can hope to stand against the mighty legion."

"We shall see about that."

I drew my blade, called out Shelgon and Snivy, saving Honedge for a last resort. Ace pulled out what looked like gauze and wrapped his hands, while Rotom beamed out of his pokeball. Lucario's fists started glowing a faint blue. Finally, Roark called his team out.

"So be it, fall beneath the legion."

All of the grunts threw pokeballs out, filling the room with Venipede. Their leader called out not just a Scolipede, but a Dusclops as well.

_"Maybe after this, I can finally get some answers."_

**A/N: Posted a while early, only because I know I'm going to be "busy" tomorrow with "research." Anyway, Put up the first chapter of "****_Ancestral Ties_****" on Tuesday. As I said there, I will be alternating both stories each week, depending on time. Finals are coming up, and after I am free for winter break, you can bet (hopefully) I will be doing both stories each week. See y'all next week!**


	14. Rise of the Black Legion

"Attack!" the man with red called.

A swarm of Venipede came charging forward towards our group.

"Alright everyone, stand your ground! We can't let them get to the badges!" I called.

The first Venipede lunged at Roark and was deflected by Onix's tail. A few in the back began firing a barrage of poison sting needles towards us. Everyone bailed in different directions while both Onix and Geodude took the bulk of the needles. Two more Venipede came charging forward for a tackle. Shelgon shot small ball of fire at one of them, burning it and throwing it backward. Rotom fired a bolt of electricity, taking out the other. Snivy held back, afraid to fight. I didn't blame him, being at both a size and type disadvantage and all. Through the fighting, I saw him slowly begin to concentrate. My Poketch beeped with Snivy being highlighted.

"Come on Snivy, you can do it!" I called.

A strange wind picked up inside the gym, and a large amount of leaves flew in through the open doors. The leaves flowed in circles around the group of Venipede, doing little to nothing in damage, but restricted everyone's vision.

"Now's our chance!" Ace called.

I used this opportunity of blindness to quickly return my sword to its sheath, swing it onto my back under my armor, and call Honedge to my hip.

"Shh, stay still, observe and stay hidden," I said to him.

Honedge sat very still, like a read sword.

"Come on you fools! They're right there!" the man with red called.

"Ace, get Rotom to chain a bolt of lightening through the leaves. See if they will ignite!" I called, confirming I was still there.

"Okay, Rotom, give it a shot!" Ace called.

Rotom fired a small bolt of electricity to one leaf, and bounced it through the cloud of leaves. There was a small burst as all of the leaves flared up and crumpled to ash within the blink of an eye.

"Well, I thought it would have worked."

"You need a stronger flame, might work someday," Roark said, looking at Shelgon.

I looked back to Snivy, who seemed exhausted.

"Snivy, return. Great job, you did great," I said, returning him to his pokeball.

"Take out the rock-types!" the man in red called.

Before we could react, the massive group of remaining Venipede tackled Onix, who started to fall backward

"Cranidos, move!" Roark called.

Onix fell backward and landed on Cranidos, KO-ing both at once. Roark recalled both team members, looking at the lone Geodude remaining. The Venipede army turned to Geodude, who was starting to look worried.

"Geodude, use rock throw!"

Geodude got into position to start throwing a barrage of rocks.

"I'm getting tired of this! Must I do everything myself? Dusclops, use shadow punch!" the man in red called.

A dark shadow gathered beside Geodude. It looked at the shadow with confusion, only to get a black fist to the side. Geodude flew back, embedding itself into the wall behind us.

"Geodude!" Roark called, running over to his Pokemon.

"Looks like it's just you and me," I said.

Ace nodded in confirmation.

More Venipede charged at us, and one by one fell. Lucario charged into the group with bone rush, taking out a large portion of the remaining Venipede. Shelgon stood farther back, firing shots of ember from a safe distance. Rotom hovered over the group, dropping bolts of electricity onto the group. Beams of red were firing off everywhere like a light show, returning the fallen Venipede to the grunts. Suddenly a small group of stray Venipede released a barrage of poison sting at Rotom.

"Rotom!" Ace called, but was too late. Rotom fell out of the air, and was returned to his pokeball mid-fall.

"Come on guys, you can do this!" I called.

Only two Venipede remained. Shelgon and Lucario simultaneously fired a finishing ember and aura sphere to finish off the duo. The last two grunts angrily returned their Venipede, and hid behind their leader.

"You are all fools! I'm going to have to deal with these kids myself!" the man in red called. "Dusclops, stay here. We don't want them to be defeated _that_ fast."

Scolipede moved forward, and the fatigued Shelgon and Lucario readied for round two.

"I can't just sit here and watch my team fall…" I said.

"What can you do? Scolipede has poison point, and Dusclops is ghost-type. There is little to nothing you can do," Ace said.

I gently grasped Honedge's hilt, making sure he was ready. A small tap of cloth confirmed he was ready.

_"He's still weak, but let's hope he has the finesse we need."_

Scolipede started off with a steamroller attack. Shelgon dodged to the side, while Lucario jumped up into the air. Shelgon fired a ball of fire at Scolipede, which did very little, even with the type advantage. He fired two more, and Scolipede was just standing there taking it.

"Haha! Are we too strong for you?" the man in red laughed.

Shelgon went to fire one last ember, and puffed out smoke instead.

"Oh no…"

"Now Scolipede, use hyperbeam!"

Aces expression changed dramatically to accompany the command. He looked at Lucario, and nodded. Lucario charged forward, hands glowing a gray color. Suddenly, he grew silver claws from each of his hands. He hacked away at the charging Scolipede. I looked at Shelgon, and noticed a small glow coming from where his mouth would be.

"Ace, get Lucario out of there!" I called.

Ace looked at Shelgon, and called Lucario back.

"Let em' have it!" I called.

Shelgon released a purple beam of air from his mouth. It hit Scolipede with enough force to make Scolipede recoil backwards. Scolipede released its hyperbeam, which shot straight up and cut a line in the already broken ceiling. Then oddly enough, it fell forward, unable to move.

"Nice job Shelgon, you paralyzed it and learned dragon breath!" I called.

Shelgon was happy, but slid his legs outwards, drained after the attack.

"Return, have a good rest, I've got it from here…" I said, returning him to his pokeball.

"Lucario, use a blaze kick to finish this!" Ace called.

Lucario charged at the paralyzed Scolipede and jumped into the air. Mid-air his right leg caught on fire. He brought it down straight onto the back of Scolipede with a flash of fire, and an appropriate KO to match.

"No! You were supposed to defeat them! At least we are down to one," the man in red said.

"I wouldn't say that…" I said, holding up another pokeball.

"Gah! Dusclops, take these fools out!"

"Are you sure, he's still fairly weak," Ace said.

"Finesse and skill can win any battle, regardless the power or rank. Duke taught me that," I answered. "But, I will only use him if you two are in trouble."

"Agreed. Lucario, let's do this!"

_"I don't have much energy left, but I will use the last to claim victory,"_ Lucario said.

"I see, so that's how you saw us coming," the man in red muttered.

"Blaze kick!"

"Shadow punch."

Lucario dashed forward, but instead of jumping this time, he went for a roundhouse kick. Dusclops took the hit, but countered with shadow punch. Lucario barely dodged it, taking a small wisp of shadow to one of his ear.

"Now metal claw!"

Lucario went from his lowered position from the dodge to use metal claw in an uppercut fashion.

"Dusclops, grab him."

Dusclops grabbed Lucario around the ankle and held him upside down.

"Lucario!"

Lucario used metal claw on both hands, hacking away at Dusclops' arm, but his efforts were futile.

"Dusclops, fire punch," the man said with a grin.

Ace became very worried, and Lucario's expression and cease of attacks showed the same worry. Dusclops charged a flaming fist and hit Lucario in the chest, sending him flying across the field. Ace bolted for his fallen partner.

"Pathetic. Is this all that this gym can muster to defend itself? What a joke," the man in red taunted.

"That's it, I can't hold back anymore," I said, drawing Honedge.

The blade I drew, Honedge, was ready to fight.

"Zweii! Don't be stupid!" Ace called from across the gym, who could not see the difference in color very well.

I felt Honedge's cloth wrap up my arm, much like before, but this time I felt invigorated. It's like both of our minds were linked somehow. With my skill with a blade and Honedge's power, I had a good feeling we could do this.

I dashed forward towards the waiting Dusclops.

"Listen to your friend, are you stupid?!" the man in red called.

We cut a straight line down the side of Dusclops' body. It stepped back a few steps from the shock of the hit.

"So be it! Dusclops, shadow punch!"

I saw the shadow developing beside us, but knowing Honedge's shadow sneak, knew how it worked. I counted two seconds, and dodged to the right. The fist flew from the ground, missing by a mile.

_"Shadow sneak, but don't disappear, stay in my hands,"_ I thought.

Honedge grew turned a dark shade of gray, and vanished only to the point where I could still hold onto him. I jumped into the air, and landed on the back of Dusclops. I held Honedge in two hands, and drove the attack directly into Dusclop's back. I jumped off, landing on my feet just in front of the staggered Pokemon. Honedge returned to normal, and we went on slashing Dusclops while he was stunned. One last back slash dropped Dusclops to the ground.

"What?! How!" the man in red called, his face getting almost as red as his coverings.

He returned his Dusclpos to its pokeball, still shocked. All of the grunts looked at their leader, wondering what to do next.

"Get them. Do whatever is necessary. I want that sword and those trainers. The boss would love to meet them…" he said, drawing the steel blade from his hip.

The grunts slowly walked forward towards me, with a devious look in their eyes.

"Go, help your friend. I can watch after Lucario," Roark said to Ace.

"Thank you, I have a score to settle," he replied, tightening the bandaging on his fists.

I was suddenly rushed by two grunts.

_"I don't want to hurt or kill anyone… I am not prepared for this!"_ I thought, dodging a fist.

My arm moved by itself, under Honedge's control, and hit the swinging grunt on the back of the head with the flat part of his side. The grunt fell to the ground unconscious.

_"Good idea! Use a defensive stance."_

The second grunt took a swing as well, but I tripped him, and drove my elbow into his back.

"Need some help? Well too bad, I'm giving it to you anyway," Ace said with a bitter tone.

We found ourselves surrounded by the remaining fifteen grunts.

"We need an extra hand. Honedge, think you can do it solo?"

"Honedge? How?!" Ace asked.

"Will explain later, for now, we get these guys out of this gym!"

I threw Honedge up into the air, keeping his sheath at my side. I reached behind by back, and drew my own blade from its hiding place.

"That blade… No, it can't be…" the man in red mumbled. "Leave that boy to me! Take out that annoying Pokemon and the other boy."

The first grunt charged at Ace, who put him out in a flash. The other grunts were shocked. The next was foolish to rush in equally as fast. Ace grabbed his incoming fist with his right hand, his body with the left, and threw the grunt over his shoulder.

"Who's next? I've got plenty for everyone…"

Three ran in, and as I was about to take a swing, I was grabbed and thrown backwards. I quickly got up to avoid a steel blade swinging my way.

"I don't know who you are, but you have no right to kill people!" I yelled, dodging another swing.

"I will have that sword! It was supposed to be mine! But that cowardly fool ran away before the final blow was made. Our leader promised me power!"

His attacks became more frantic, and easier to avoid with his rage. In the background I heard more grunts being knocked out by both Ace and Honedge. I dodged an incoming charge, hitting his back with the bottom of my sword. He fell onto the ground, his blade sliding across the floor. I looked over him noticed the large group of grunts had dwindled to only three. One rushed to Ace, and he brought an open hand down onto his neck, dropping him in a second. The man in red started to get up, reaching for his sword in the process. He got up, sword in hand, with a rage like no other in his eyes. Suddenly, a grunt was sent flying into his back, knocking him back onto the floor. I looked from where he came from to see Ace standing there with a satisfied look on his face. I grabbed the sword off the floor, holding it in my left hand.

"Get off me you fool!" he called, pushing the barely conscious grunt off himself.

He moved onto his back, but did not get far after that. I held both blades crossed in front of him.

"You lost. Now, on your feet," I said.

He angrily got up, keeping his eyes on me.

"Ace, can you wake these grunts up? We don't need them lying everywhere in here."

"Sure can, give me a sec," he replied.

He opened his backpack, withdrawing a small bottle with some strange green herbs in it. He popped the cork out of it, and waved it under a grunt. The grunt immediately snapped out of his unconscious state. He went around and woke everyone else up.

"Who are you, not your little cult, but _you_?" I asked the man in red, trying to finally get some answers.

"Now why would I tell you information like that?" he answered.

"Because you have three blades surrounding you."

Honedge jabbed lightly at the man's back.

"Hmph. Fine, I am Xavier. I am the general just under our leader."  
>"Who is your leader? What were you planning to do with the badges?"<p>

"His name is Draksis. We were planning to take all of the badges to prevent trainers from progressing on their journeys."

Ace started rounding up the grunts into a group near the entrance of the gym.

"I take it you have a getaway lined up?"

"Yes."

"Get out of here. Never let me catch you back in the gym again, I won't be so lenient next time."

He got up, walked towards the door, and ushered his group of grunts out.

"This is far from over kid. Next time, you may not be so lenient, but I will not miss next time."

The sound of an aircraft engine firing up boomed outside. I quickly took out a small engraving tool from my back satchel. I normally used the tool to mark metal from Duke's shop, but I had a better use for it. I drew the symbol from the sheath at my belt, the pokeball with three slashes on a shield with crossed swords, directly on the steel. I ran outside, sword in hand, to see a ship taking off with an angry man in red sitting on the side. I threw the sword at the ship, which imbedded itself hilt deep into the side of the ship as it was taking off.

"Now we wait…"

I walked back inside to see Roark helping Lucario walk to Ace by letting him lean on his shoulder.

"You okay? You gave me a good scare you know," Ace told Lucario.

_"I am fine. I will need some medical attention, but I can survive until then,"_ Lucario replied.

"Always have to be such a trooper…"

"Honedge, great job today. Here is your sheath, now have a good rest," I said, giving Honedge his sheath back and returned him to his pokeball.

"Can we help clean this place up?" I asked Roark.

"Nah, we can get it. I can tell you two are going to get very far in your journeys. Good luck out there!" Roark said.

Ace took one of Lucario's arms, and I took the other. We walked out the front doors, and headed to the nearest center to get the much needed help for our teams.

* * *

><p>"You have failed me. I gave you one simple task, and you failed it," a deep masculine voice boomed through the corridors of the castle.<p>

"I am sorry sir, but there was a boy…" Xavier tried to explain.

"A boy who is a descendant of one of the legendary Pokemon Knights. So I see," the man said, examining Zweii's mark on the sword. "Did you tell him any information?"

"No, I told him the badges were meant to slow trainers. He has no idea what we are really doing. What shall we do?"

"We lay a trail of breadcrumbs. If he wants to uphold his legacy, we should help him do so."

"Yes, but it seems he does not know the secrets behind the sword."

"Even better, he will surely fall before us. Begin the operation, and find where Zenevia is."

"Zenevia, are you sure?"

"Yes."

"I follow and obey, Lord Draksis."

**A/N Man that was fairly long. Upping the rating to K+ due to the scenes like this that are to come as well. Remember NOBODY DIED. Ace uses DEFENSIVE combat, as do the rest of us. Thanks for al the reviews thus far, keep them up! Finals next week, then I should be getting both stories out each week.**


	15. Trouble in Jubilife Pt1

"So where are we going to next?" I asked, sipping my cup of hot cocoa.

We had decided to rest a bit after the chaos in the gym, so we ordered some warm drinks to relax our stressed muscles. We were sitting on a bench just outside the Pokemon Center, watching the people go by. Lucario was back his old self, sipping on his own cup.

"Well, the next gym is in Eterna City. If we had bikes, we could use the cycling road, but we don't have any…" Ace replied.

"You mean we have to find some bikes somewhere to get to the next town?"

"Well, we can go back through Jubilife then Floaroma, through the forest by that creepy house, then to Eterna."

"So how do we go about finding those bikes…?"

"Come on, don't be lazy! We made that hike before."

"Yeah, you were practically dragging me. On one condition we go that way, we take our time this time…"

"Deal. Let's get moving, ready Lucario?"

Lucario gave a nod and stood up. We finished our drinks, stood up, and headed towards the west exit of town.

From there we went back to Jubilife City. For some reason the city was quieter than before.

"I don't like this. It's not called Jubi_life_ for no reason. Where is everyone?" Ace wondered.

"I don't know, we'd best be careful," I replied.

We slowly walked through the city, keeping up our guard along the way. We made it to the Center in the town, and walked through the doors. Nurse Joy was missing, as were all of the people.

"Okay, this is getting strange. Where is everyone!"

Ace's voice echoed through the halls of the Center.

"You know it's empty when your voice echoes that much…"

"Lucario, see what you can find out around the area. We will stay around here and look around."

Lucario nodded and took off out through the doors. Ace and I walked around the block looking for any clues. We came across a food stall with some still-warm food in it.

"Looks like whatever it was, was fairly recent," I said.

"Zweii…" Ace said, a worried tone in his voice.

"What's wrong?"

I turned around to see Ace pointing at the local TV station. I followed his hand to see the station wrapped in black and red banners. On the banners was the seal of the Black Legion.

"Oh no…"

Lucario returned to us just in time to see a pair of grunts walk out of the station doors. All three of us dove behind a hotdog cart.

"Hehe, the boss' broadcast will be great," one said.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see the outcome and mass panic through the region when it hits the air," the other replied.

"When is it supposed to start? I don't want to miss it…" I said, stepping out from behind the cart.

"What? Who are you? I thought you said you rounded the town up into that tech building."

"I thought I did, no matter, we can take this kid."

"Hear that Lucario? We need to get to the Poketch building," Ace whispered.

I reached for the first pokeball on my belt, Shelgon's, and gestured to Ace to get going.

**A/N: NOTICE: This is a ****_VERY_**** short chapter for a few reasons. I am at a loss for ideas right now/don't have much time due to Christmas being around the corner. Also, this chapter is a set-up for the next few chapters to come. I am going to try something slightly different, an idea a friend of mine did with his story, and that will happen in the coming few chapters. If it word out well, I will be using it more often. I know it's not much to go on, but please enjoy this whopping 636 word chapter! See you next week, and have a Merry Christmas (or what have you)!**

"You are going to do no such thing on my watch! Shelgon, let's crash this party!"

I called Shelgon out, who was ready for another brawl with the Black Legion. Ace and Lucario seized the moment and made a break for the Poketch building down the street.

"Ready Lucario? There is going to be quite a few Legion grunts in here I bet."

_"Ready if you are."_

The duos broke through the bolted doors, and were met by a group of three grunts.

"This is going to be fun…" Ace said with a smile.


End file.
